


Happily Ever Laughter

by Kamari333



Series: Ebott is a Multiverse [4]
Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Underswap, Angst, Crying, Feels, Funeral, M/M, dust - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-25
Updated: 2017-08-17
Packaged: 2018-12-06 15:14:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11603262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kamari333/pseuds/Kamari333
Summary: The direct sequel toThe Last Laugh.





	1. The Funeral

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blue attends Comic's funeral, and Stretch makes a discovery.

It was almost midnight. Papyrus had been sitting at Muffet's bar, enjoying his third (or was it fourth? Fifth? Hard to say) glass of Spider Cider, when he got the call. He pulled out his phone, surprised. That was his brother's ringtone. He flipped it open. "heya, bro. wazzup?"

"P-PAPY...?" Blue's voice came out weak, shaking and broken by hiccups. "I- I-" A gut wrenching wail drifted out over the receiver, shaking Papyrus to his core.

"blue?? blue??? sans, what's wrong?!?!?!" Papyrus stood up, waving to Muffet as he power walked out of the bar, his whole being screaming to get to his brother as soon as possible. "where are you?!"

"H-HOME..!" Blue whispered.

Papyrus rounded the corner into the alley, and snapped his fingers, shortcutting to the shed behind the house. He hung up the phone, walking around to the front, to find the front door already ajar. He threw it open the rest of the way...

...only to find his older brother, who had always been his strength, his rock, his reason to keep going, curled up in a little ball on the floor, covered from head to toe in a fine grey powder, wearing a ratty blue jacket over his nurse scrubs. Blue looked up, still clutching the phone to the side of his skull in two shaking hands. His eye sockets were black, completely devoid of the light (and life) they had always held. His face was stained with streaks of pale cyan from the tears that even now continued to flow, leaving even more damp patches on his clothes.

"PAPY-!" Blue sniffed, dropping the phone. He pushed up off the floor, stumbling to his feet and throwing himself into Stretch's arms, breaking out into full blown sobs for what must have been the second time (at least). Stretch held him tight, letting his brother hide in his chest from the sight that he now drank in angrily.

_Dust._

_Monster Dust._

" _COMIC!!!!_ " Blue cried, clutching at Papyrus like he was the only thing keeping him standing (and given how hard he was shaking, that might have very well been the case).

Papyrus ground his teeth. _That fucking bastard._ Stretch had known, from the minute Blue had told him how they met, that Comic was bad news. He hadn't wanted his brother getting involved with a guy so unhinged that he would try to kill himself. Thats why he had insisted on meeting him, so he could try and scare him off. Then Comic had laid on that lazy charm, that air of kinship, and Papyrus had had his worries completely set at ease...

Righteous anger flared inside him. _He should have trusted his gut._

\-------

Blue had known that Papy wasn't the person he should have called first. He knew that. But he had needed something, someone, to fall to.

How was he supposed tell Rus that his brother was dead? Rus, who had become one of his closest friends, who he had been so welcoming and supportive, who he had grown to consider family-

_-who was going to be, supposed to be, his family..!_

How could Blue tell him that his brother was Dust??

When Blue had thought that, he had caved in on himself, and called Papy for support.

So when he had finally cried himself hollow, Blue dried his face and steeled his feeble resolve. He thanked his little brother, pulled away from him, and made the call. Just as he had thought, Rus was devastated. But, to Blue's surprise, Rus was not shaken to uselessness. In fact, Rus got right to work planning the funeral, almost like he was driven. Blue thought perhaps keeping busy was Rus's way of coping. He could understand that -- Blue had used that same technique many times (he just... couldn't, right now...).

Rus had made a few calls, and by 6 AM that next morning, all the arrangements had been made. The funeral would take place at noon, at Grillby's bar. Rus asked Blue to gather up as much of the dust as he could, and bring it in.

Blue went out that morning and purchased a lovely pine box to carry Comic- the Dust in. He then carefully extricated all the dust off the floor, and transferred it to the box. It took all of Blue's willpower not to start crying into the tiny granules. Whenever he felt himself breaking, he backed away, letting his tears fall harmlessly to the floor, wiping his face with the sleeve of the blue jacket he couldn't bring himself to take off. _It still smelled like him, it still felt like him, like he had just taken it off and wrapped it over Blue's shoulders._ Blue felt a little bad about getting it dirty with his gross tears, but then he would hear Comic's voice in his head-

" _eh, it was dirty already. no biggie._ "

-and the tears would start up all over again, and he would pull the hood over his head just to feel a little more of Comic's presence around him, and lose himself in his grief for a little while.

Papy stepped outside for a smoke, clearly stressed. Usually Blue would have chastised him for the foul habit, but he knew that it was his fault his little brother felt like he needed to.

Just like it was his fault that Comic was gone.

Blue knew, he _knew_ , on the deepest possible level, how fragile Comic had been, how little it would have taken to push him over the edge. He _knew_ what would set Comic off, he _knew_ , and he had still let it happen. Blue had promised himself that he would do _anything and everything_ to make Comic happy, to pull him out of his hopelessness, to keep him from ever feeling so lost and alone, and he had failed. He had made a stupid, foolish mistake, and now Comic was gone, and it was all because Blue had forgotten about daylight-fucking-savings time.

If he had just been there, if he had just clocked out early and come home and pulled Comic close and whispered all the things he needed to hear, if he had just _been there_ , right now Comic would be in his lap asleep and Blue would be admiring the ring on his finger and thinking about wedding plans and _oh stars no stop thinking about it, it will only hurt worse!!!_

Blue picked himself up, grinding his teeth so hard his jaw ached, and finished his task. He then picked up the box, which contained all that was left of the monster he had loved beyond measure _oh stars I'll never see his smile again, I'll never hear his voice again, I'll never feel his hands or his tongue or his magic ever again, I'll never hold his SOUL again, that beautiful tender SOUL that had loved him so much **oh stars I'll never-!!!**_

Blue almost dropped the box, his tears flowing again. He had been crying almost non-stop since last night. He really needed to pull himself together. He had to be strong.

\-------

Papyrus walked his brother down the streets, keeping his hand firmly on his slumped shoulder. It broke his heart, seeing the usually vibrant and energetic skeleton so... utterly broken. Papyrus didn't particularly want to attend this... event... but he felt like he had to be there. For Blue.

After all, how many times had Blue been there for _him_? More than he could count. More than Blue even knew. Hundreds upon hundreds of times. And Blue had never once asked for anything in return. Hell, Blue never asked for anything for himself. Blue was selfless, self-sacrificing, and infinitely patient. Papyrus looked up to his brother, his amazing big brother, who was so cool and strong and always found the silver lining to everything. He admired him from the bottom of his SOUL.

Seeing him like this... was almost more than he could stand.

Papyrus skipped ahead a few paces in front of Blue to open the door. Blue looked up at the sound of the bell, freezing mid step. After a moment, he resumed his listless pace, taking his first steps into the building. As Papyrus let the door close, he saw Blue's still empty eye sockets train to the bar proper, and fixed his gaze on a stool, around which were flowers and bottles of ketchup. The sight must have set something off in his brother's mind, because tears welled up in his eyes, dripping onto the lid of the box he clutched to his chest so tightly as he approached the clearly marked space of mourning to place it down reverently on the stool.

Papyrus was... surprised, to say the least. The joint was packed, filled almost to the point of bursting with monsters from all walks of life, each one showing varying degrees of grief and loss and sadness.

The bartender, a fire elemental who Papyrus had met once or twice (he had stumbled into this place a few times when Muffet's closed) had lost his warm and welcoming orange glow, looking more like smoldering embers left to die in wind.

A tall skeleton monster, who looked shockingly like Papyrus himself, was leaning on the bar with his face in his hands, shaking so hard that his bones clacked together. When Blue set the box on the stool, that taller monster turned to look at him, streaks of orange liquid rolling down his face. He knelt down and pulled Blue into a hug, burying his tear stained face into the blue jacket that Blue still wore, loud heartbreaking howls escaping him. Blue hugged him back, bawling as he hid his face in the other's chest. Watching them, hearing the emotions in their voices, it was impossible to tell who was hurting more.

Papyrus lit himself a cigarette, taking a long drag to try and calm his nerves. He hurt, he hurt so badly, seeing his brother like that, but more than anything he was angry. _How could that son of a bitch do this_ , up and leave all these people who clearly cared about him?! _Leave Blue?!_ It was beyond what Papyrus could understand. And it pissed him off.

The bell rang again, prompting everyone except Blue and the taller skeleton to look at the door. What little conversation there had been ceased as a tall, regal female goat monster walked inside, a small human child in a blue sweater with purple stripes at her side.

Both of them had been crying.

Papyrus stared. That was Toriel, that was the Queen! Wasn't it..?

Toriel walked by Papyrus without looking at him, one of her large paws gently clasped over the child's shoulders. As they approached, Blue broke away from the taller monster, looking up at her with shock.

Toriel smiled sadly at the taller monster, who immediately threw their arms around the human child and picked them up, standing to nearly his full height. "I am... I am so sorry for you loss, Papyrus..."

Papyrus sucked in another, larger breath, letting the smoke filter through his nasal cavity. That meant that this was Comic's brother, the one Blue called Rus. And that meant that this was indeed Toriel, but not the Toriel that Papyrus was acquainted with. _Because multiverse theory was a thing now, as Papyrus had been made acutely aware of so many months ago._

"THANK YOU, MISS TORIEL." Rus said in a voice meant to be pleasant and chipper, but came out sounding hollow. "AND I- I AM SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS TOO. I KNOW YOU AND SANS WERE... CLOSE."

Toriel sucked in a breath, her hands grasping the fabric of her dress tightly as the tips of her creamy white fur quivered with repressed emotion.

The human child whimpered, nuzzling into Rus's shoulder, tears falling down their cheeks. Rus rubbed their back soothingly, his jaw clenched tightly shut, probably in an attempt to keep from crying himself.

Grillby made a soft crackling noise, and Toriel swallowed. "Yes, you are right, Grillby. We should... begin..." The goat monster walked over to the box and carefully opened it, her body language showing that she was not at all as composed as she was pretending to be.

As Grillby began spooning the dust into some of the ketchup bottles, Toriel scooped some of it lovingly in her paws, and drizzled it over Rus and the child. Rus took some of it from her hand, and, reaching up, sprinkled some over her head, where it settled in her fur. That must have caught Toriel off guard, because she had to choke back a sob. Rus smiled up at her knowingly, before taking another handful and throwing it over Blue.

Blue sank to his knees, hugging himself to try and keep from shaking. Papyrus wanted to go to him, but he couldn't bring himself to go any closer to the Dust. It seemed irreverent to him, being so close to the Dust of a monster for whom he harbored so much anger. It didn't seem right.

The child started to squirm, prompting Rus to let them down. The human then clung to Toriel's skirts, weeping silently. Toriel knelt down and hugged them, practically smothering the human in their significantly larger embrace. The human didn't seem to mind, rather, they appeared to take comfort in it, clutching at her fur and burying their face into the monster's breast.

After a few more minutes, Grillby had spooned half of the remaining dust into the ketchup bottles, then went into the back, only to return with copious amounts of food. Burgers, fries, and the ketchup bottles were distributed quickly through the crowd, who ate in relative silence, the only noises being the squelch of grey ketchup and the sniffles of tearful monsters.

\-------

Ten minutes, and the food was gone. The many monsters began to file out, swinging by to give Rus their condolences before exiting the bar.

Nobody paid any attention to Blue, and for that he was grateful. He didn't think he could handle attention at the moment. Blue sat on the floor, between two empty bar stools, clutching a bottle of the dust-filled condiment to his chest as he burrowed deeper into his stolen blue jacket.

Soon the bar was empty, save for Blue, Papy, Rus, Toriel, the human, and Grillby. Blue pushed himself to his feet then, and wandered over to nuzzle into his little brother's hip, taking comfort in his familiar presence.

Rus took a deep breath, and walked over to the box, now half empty. He scooped up a fistful of Dust, and threw it into the flames of the fire elemental. Grillby flickered with raw emotions, touched beyond words, if Blue was any judge. But Blue knew Rus had the right of it -- Comic had loved Grillby dearly. Blue knew.

Blue felt another sharp stab of pain in his SOUL, shuddering as the wave of agony passed through his bones. _Don't think about it. Don't think about what it had felt like to hold that beautiful SOUL in your fingers, to BE held in his hands, to feel with absolute certainty down to your marrow, to your very SOUL, how much you were loved, how much everyone was loved, to have proof of his devotion and loyalty and respect and admiration and love and- no, stars, don't start crying again!!!_ It was pointless, though. Blue couldn't have stopped his tears if his life depended on it. He shook his head, throwing a few globs of the luminescent liquid to the floor, and dried his face on his sleeve.

"Come along, Frisk, it's... it's time to go home, now..." Toriel took the small human child's hand, and started to lead them out.

Blue's head snapped to the side, locking onto the child. " _FRISK?!_ " He said without thinking, lunging to grab hold of the human's shoulder. "YOU ARE FRISK? FRISK THE HUMAN?? THE HUMAN FRISK???"

Frisk looked at Blue with confusion, nodding their head.

Blue felt tears well up again, but this time, they were not tears of sorrow. They were tears of joy, of hope. "REALLY?! IT IS REALLY YOU?!" Blue took hold of their other shoulder. "COMIC TOLD ME ALL ABOUT YOU!!"

Frisk's eyes widened, their body going rigid. They pulled their hand from Toriel's grasp, signing, { " _What did he say, exactly?_ " }

"HE TOLD ME EVERYTHING!! ABOUT HOW NICE YOU ARE! ABOUT HOW YOU DID GOOD!! ABOUT HOW YOU DID... NOT SO GOOD..." Blue felt, smelled, the fear and guilt start to radiate off the child. He forced a smile on his face. "HE TOLD ME HOW BAD HE FELT ABOUT IT. HOW HE WISHED THERE COULD HAVE BEEN A WAY THAT HE- THAT YOU- THAT- THAT _THAT_ WASN'T NECESSARY. HOW- HOW SORRY HE WAS THAT YOU HAD TO ENDURE ALL OF IT. HE- HE NEVER SAID IT IN SO MANY WORDS, BUT HE WAS REALLY, REALLY SORRY. I KNOW HE WAS."

Frisk trembled under Blue's hands, tears glistening in the corner of their eyes. { " _I'm sorry too._ " } They signed shakily.

Blue's SOUL thrummed with renewed hope. "THEN PLEASE- PLEASE, DO THE THING. DO THE THING THAT YOU DID AND- AND FIX THIS. PLEASE..!"

Toriel wrung her hands. "My child..?"

Papy's usually slouched posture was now straight, his eye sockets wide and jaw hanging open. "b-bro..? what are you-??"

Frisk bit their lip. { " _I can't._ " }

Blue tightened his grip on them. "WHY NOT?! YOU DID IT BEFORE!! HE SAID YOU DID IT BEFORE!! WHY CAN'T YOU DO IT NOW?!"

Frisk sucked in a breath. { " _I promised I wouldn't. He made me promise. I can't-_ " }

"YES YOU CAN!!" Blue snapped, shaking the child. "JUST APOLOGIZE AFTERWARD!! SAY IT WAS MY FAULT YOU DID IT! SAY ANYTHING!! JUST- JUST-" Blue felt guilty, ashamed, for asking for it so selfishly. He knew he was putting an unreasonable amount of pressure on Frisk, who was not only a stranger to him, but a child. He knew he was being unfair. He knew he was asking Frisk to do something bad. He knew all of that.

But if it meant bringing Comic back...

If it meant making this pain go away...

Blue was willing to pay nearly any price.

"JUST PLEASE!! DO THE THING!! BRING HIM BACK! BRING HIM BACK... RESET..." Blue was begging now, his voice shaking and dwindling to nothing but a whisper as he sank to his knees, clutching at the child's clothes. "RESET. RESET. _RESET. RESET. RESET._ " He was sobbing now, his words barely understandable. "PLEASE..!"

Papy gently took hold of Blue's shaking arms, prying him away from Frisk.

Frisk signed, { " _I'm sorry,_ " } one last time, before running out the door, Toriel on their heels, bleating in alarm.

"NO!! PLEASE YOU HAVE TO- YOU HAVE TO DO THE THING!!!" Blue howled, reaching out for the human. Papy held him back. "YOU HAVE TO DO THE THING!!! _RESET!!! PLEASE!!!!_ " The door closed behind the retreating figures, and Blue sagged to the floor. "PLEASE..." His voice was hoarse, quieter than ever.

There was the sound of a low vibration. Papy shifted his grip on Blue to something one handed, answering his cellphone with the other. "heya." 

Blue couldn't hear the other end of the conversation, but he didn't care to try listening either. His last hope was gone. The human wouldn't RESET. It brought a humorless laugh out of Blue's throat. The very thing that had made Comic so vulnerable was the one thing that could save him, and it was probably never going to happen... and had Comic known that, he wouldn't have needed to be saved in the first place. The irony brought Blue even closer to complete shutdown.

The tension in Papy's body eased. "thanks for getting back to me. whens the last time ya saved?"

Blue's head snapped up, looking at Papy with a mixture of hope and alarm. Had he said 'SAVEd'? Wasn't that one of the words Comic had used to describe the human's time warping power?? No, it had to be a coincidence. Nobody could do that except Frisk the Human. Comic had said so.

...Right..?

Blue felt Papy's hand rub soothingly up and down his humerus, a grim grin taking over his brother's face.

"i need a favor, but I warn ya, it's a heavy _load_."

\-------

Papyrus was suddenly sitting at the bar, a glass of Muffet's best Spider Cider in one hand, which was halfway up to his teeth. He froze, and a satisfied, dark smirk spread across his face. _That kid always pulls through._ Now he had to do the same.

But this was not for that rat bastard, no... this was for Blue.

Papyrus stood up, again power walking out of the bar and into the alley. This time, however, he took his shortcut right into the livingroom.

There was Comic, curled up on the couch, a thick textbook forgotten at his side as he clutched at his chest. He was covered in sweat, quivering, pathetic whimpers escaping into the air.

Papyrus, however, didn't care. All he saw was the man that had made his brother cry.

The sound of bone smashing into bone broke through the near silence as Papyrus's right hook made contact with Comic's face.

\-------

Comic had been dead. He knew he had been dead. He had died so many times, he knew what it felt like, what it felt like to fall down, to become nothing but dust.

He also knew that now he was alive.

He hurt too much not to be alive.

Comic dropped his book, clutching at his burning chest. His SOUL ached, the phantom sensation of shattering into uncountable pieces blacking out his vision. But he didn't care. If he was alive, that meant _there had been a RESET. And that meant he was back Underground. And that meant **he would never see Blue ag-**_

Something hit him in the face. Hard. Comic felt his HP drop to dangerously low decimal levels. Whoever had hit him had wanted him to hurt, but not die.

Comic raised one of his hands to his throbbing mandible. The physical pain was perfect to ground himself into the present, letting him press back the memory of disintegrating into nothing. Comic pushed his jaw back into place. "heh. i probably deserved that..." he muttered, trying to get his vision to start working again.

"hell yeah, ya did," a familiar voice growled, dripping with undisguised ire.

Comic froze. He rubbed the heel of his hand against his eye sockets, trying to get his sight to work faster. He blinked, looking up at the face that was so familiar and yet so foreign. "s-stretch?!" How was that possible?! Had there not been a RESET? Had it been a LOAD instead? That wasn't any more comforting, but it meant he might get a few more moments with Blue before it all ended. But that still begged the question: what was Stretch doing here?? He didn't remember this happening before. "what are you-?!"

Stretch hit Comic again with another right hook, knocking Comic off the couch with the force of it. Comic felt his HP go down further, but it didn't hit zero. "you _son of a bitch_. i told you..." Stretch brought his foot down on Comic's chest, pinning him down with both his anger fueled strength and his weight. "...that if you hurt him..." He ground his heal into Comic's sternum, aggravating Comic's scar, making him gasp in pain. "...i would **e n d y o u .** "

Comic clutched at Stretch's foot, looking up into his face. Stretch's amber eye lights were blazing, the right one especially bright. He could feel the malice radiating off of him in waves. Comic had never seen the monster so upset. He didn't remember this happening before. "sorry, but i dunno what you're talking about. i didn't-"

"don't play dumb with me, buddy," Stretch hissed at him, pressing down harder. "do ya think you're above consequences?!"

Comic sucked in a breath, pressing back to try and relieve the pressure. "i'm not playin' dumb! tell me what ya think i did!!"

Stretch leaned down, his usual grin twisted into a scowl. " _you left your dust where blue could find it._ "

Comic felt his magic drain out of him. "...you remember...?"

"unfortunately for you," Stretch growled.

Comic started laughing. Hysterical, tearful laughing. Someone else remembered. _Someone else knew._ He wasn't sure if he was happy or not. On the one hand, now he had someone he could talk to about it. On the other hand, the nightmare he had suffered wasn't something he would wish on anyone, let alone Stretch, who he rather liked (despite the current rough treatment and scathing accusations, which Comic couldn't rightfully deny).

Stretch brought Comic back to the present with a painful pressure on his sternum. "listen to me. ya wanna knock yourself off? go right ahead. but before you do, you're gonna break it off clean and easy with my bro, and then you're gonna go back to your own home and get your fucking dust in your own carpet. are we clear?"

Comic stared up at him. Did Stretch really think he killed himself? Did he really come off as _that stars damned broken??_ Well, perhaps he _was_ that broken, but even Comic didn't want to die. He just... Didn't want to live without...

Comic smiled tightly. "sure thing, buddy. whatever you say."


	2. Human Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> UnderSwap!Chara's view of the whole situation. And a little bit of the other humans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay there are typos but its mostly on purpose (ish?)
> 
> partially inspired by my good friends on Discord (you know who you are <3)
> 
> i wrote this in less than 3 hours.  
> this is kind of a shitpost chapter.

Chara lay back, trying to blink away the blackness from their vision as they accustomed themselves to their new place and time. It took them a moment to register that the dark wasn't from the Void, that it was the lack of light in their bedroom, where they had been sleeping (or trying to sleep) the night before (or now, as is was). They had been told about a test in school, and Dad had promised that if they got a perfect score, he would take them to that horror film they had heard about, the R-rated one that Chara was still too frustratingly young to see unescorted.

They had felt so DETERMINED to earn that.

Chara's fingers tingled still from the phantom touch of the golden buttons ever present in their mind's eye, their body humming with the after effects of the LOAD they had just made. DETERMINATION, like the sweetest red wine, coursed through their body, making them giddy and weak and yet _so strong_ all at once. The nostalgic lurch that came with bending the fabric of reality to their will always left them breathless, yet satisfied. For the briefest moment, Chara had been the GOD of this world's future, and they couldn't lie to themselves: it felt _amazing_.

If alcohol was even a fraction as good as this, Chara couldn't wait to grow up for real. Then they could feel it _all the time_ and-

-And their phone was suddenly blowing up with notifications.

_Fuck._

Chara ground their teeth, swallowing back an aggravated snarl, lest the noise upset their wonderful father who was most likely reading in the other room. Chara always hated being interrupted when they were basking in a power trip. But interrupted they had been, and they had a pretty good idea who it was who had done so. They snatched up their phone, swiping angrily to unlock the screen and dive into the private group chat.

> **Basic:** WHO?!?!?!  
>  **Green Thumb Me:** Who did a violence this time?  
>  **Hot Topic Tool:** I didn't do it!  
>  **The Adult™:** Who touched the button?  
>  **Frenchie:** WHY DID YOU DO THIS?!?!?!  
>  **Starlord:** guys sans is gonna be so mad  
>  **Basic:** YOU PROMISED NO MORE!!! 

Chara snorted. They never understood what the big deal was. They never understood why some of the others were so... resistant, hesitant, almost _afraid_ of using their power. Chara had even gotten curious enough to ask. However, their curiosity wasn't enough to urge them to push beyond the, 'I don't want to talk about it,' responses they had received.

They typed up their response.

> **Me:** to be fair, i made no such promise. 

The reactions were nearly immediate, to Chara's amusement.

> **Basic:** IT WAS YOU!!1!!!  
>  **Frenchie:** SWAP WHY I THOUGHT WE WERE COOL!!1?!?!?  
>  **Basic:** DON"T YOU KNOW WHAT YOU"VE DONE?!?!?!  
>  **Starlord:** what possessed you to do that?  
>  **The Adult™:** We TALKED about this!!  
>  **Basic:** I PROMISED AND NOW SANS IS GONNA BE SO UPSET  
>  **Frenchie:** YOU CAN"T JUST GO MESSING WITH SPAVETIME WHENEVER YOU WANT  
>  **Hot Topic Tool:** okay can i just ask why? because i was kinda in the middle of a game and now i gotta start all over and that was kinda not nice  
>  **Starlord:** wait don't answer that  
>  **Basic:** SANS IS NEVER GOING TO TRSUT ME AGAIN NOW HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO EXPLAIN THIS TO HIM?!?!?!?!  
>  **Frenchie:** I CAN'T REACH SANS AT ALL HE WON'T PICK UP HIS PHONE HE IS NEVER GOING TO FORGIVE ME NOW 

Chara frowned. It wasn't a scowl, so much as an expression of unease. Okay, yeah, sure, the power to change fate wasn't something to be thrown around casually. Even Chara knew that much (they weren't _that_ irresponsible, or thoughtless for that matter). Even so, it had been almost 4 years since the last time any of them had used it. That didn't seem like such a bad track record. Then they remembered why they had felt so DETERMINED they could invoke that power in the first place. They remembered why they had thrown caution to the wind. They remembered that they were angry.

> **Me:** I had a damn good reason and you fucking know it Tale 

Chara watched as all the activity ground to a sudden halt. Chara was all about taking responsibility for their own actions. They never made a move they would be ashamed of. But if Tale wanted to play the blame game, Chara was more than happy to indulge them.

> **Green Thumb Me:** what is Swap talking about?  
>  **The Adult™:** what happened?  
>  **Hot Topic Tool:** Tale? Swap?  
>  **Frenchie:** Tale WTF did you DO??  
>  **Basic:** I didn't do anything!!  
>  **Me:** exactly  
>  **Basic:** there was nothing i COULD do  
>  **Me:** i just proved you wrong, partner  
>  **Basic:** sans wouldn't have wanted this  
>  **Me:** maybe not yours. but mine sure as hell did  
>  **Me:** papy told me everything. and unlike you i take care of my family  
>  **The Adult™:** that was uncalled for  
>  **Me:** did i lie?  
>  **Starlord:** what actually happened???  
>  **Me:** Tale let their sansy kill themselves, in MY SANS' HOUSE  
>  **Me:** turns out hey were dating?  
>  **Frenchie:** omg  
>  **Me:** *they  
>  **Hot Topic Tool:** holy crap  
>  **Basic:** HE DIDN'T KILL HIMSELF  
>  **The Adult™:** i'd say congrats but- uh...  
>  **Basic:** HE WOULD NEVER  
>  **Me:** which is totally why papy found blue sobbing in his dust  
>  **The Adult™:** omg Swap be fucking respectful  
>  **Me:** papy asked me to LOAD back so he wouldn't be dead anymore  
>  **Me:** papy ASK ME because when blue ASKED TALE at the funeral tomorrow Tale said no  
>  **Starlord:** that phrase looks so weird out of context  
>  **The Adult™:** comet plz  
>  **Green Thumb Me:** idk how to feel about this  
>  **Frenchie:** guys sans still won't answer his phone im legit scared rn  
>  **Me:** so fuck u, Tale. just bc youre a basic bitch doesnt mean i am  
>  **Basic:** i never wanted any of this  
>  **Frenchie:** i can't leave to go look for him guys what do i do?  
>  **The Adult™:** Calm down ballet, i just got a text from sans. he'll check on dance okay?  
>  **Green Thumb Me:** wait since when do dance and lust know each other?  
>  **The Adult™:** uh like half a year ago? sans has been gushing over his two new boyfriends to everyone who'll listen for like forever now. i just kinda met the one tho.  
>  **Starlord:** wait he has two boyfriends?? love yer supposed to be keeping us up to date on the good shit!!  
>  **The Adult™:** i've been busy, okay? college isn't easy (even if i do love Fell's mom)  
>  **Hot Topic Tool:** because mom is awesome  
>  **Frenchie:** distract me with stories plz i'm freaking out and i need something to latch onto 

Yeah, the topic had been changed. Chara smirked. They figured Tale was crying. Served them right. It was their job, as the humans, to protect their monster family. And if Tale wasn't going to pull their weight, then Chara wasn't going to pull their punches. Chara hated humans. If it wasn't for Dad's and Blue's desire for peace, Chara would have started (and single handedly ended) a war a long time ago.

Chara sighed, laying back, letting their phone fall to the side as they stretched out flat on their bed. They raised their hand, flexing it. It was so small, even for their age (14). It was so delicate looking, so harmless. But Chara knew what those hands could do, what it was that Tale's Sans -- what Comic -- had thought. Chara had seen the way he had looked at them, or more importantly, at their hands. They had seen how the very sight of them had made the poor monster half crazed with fear. It had broken their heart, and at first, they were overwhelmed by the desire to help. However, it had become clear rather quickly, (to Chara at least) that 'help' was the last thing they could have offered the panic stricken skeleton. Chara had been worried for a moment that the eerie blue glow that sparked and raged in and around Comic would manifest into a FIGHT.

And all Chara could think about what _how the hell did Tale let this happen?_

Now, as Chara lay there, they wondered how Papy was handling it. They wondered how he was comforting him, coaxing him away from the proverbial ledge that Chara was certain Tale had been the one to push him up to. Their fingeres itched to call, to check in, but if Chara knew one thing, it was that situations like this were delicate, and needed to be handled without distractions.

Chara had done their part, now they had to trust that Papy would handle his end.

Chara couldn't wait to be old enough to drink for real. Having a 14-year-old's body was immensely frustrating after living what felt like uncountable lifetimes.

But it was alright. After all, Chara would do anything for their monsters, their family. Anything. And that included letting time take its course just as much as it did bending time into a pretzel knot.

With a sigh, Chara let their hand fall and rolled onto their side, closing their eyes. They would call Papy in the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay i tried to make the chat look as authentic as possible.
> 
> In case Chara's meme naming convention (and the nicknames thrown around) was confusing, here is the translation:
> 
> Me – Underswap Chara (Swap)  
> Basic – Undertale Frisk (Tale)  
> Green Thumb Me – Swapfell Chara (Swapfell/SF)  
> Hot Topic Tool – Underfell Frisk (Fell)  
> The Adult™ – Underlust Frisk (Love)  
> Starlord – Outertale Frisk (Comet)  
> Frenchie – Dancetale Frisk (Ballet)
> 
> there are actually reasons for all those names i thought it out
> 
> also... seems like Chara has a very different idea about what Stretch was intending... about why Stretch was mad... there are misunderstandings everywhere


End file.
